Convict Captured Shortly After Escape From NJ Prison: DOC

MANTUA TOWNSHIP, NJ — A Seaside Heights man was captured shortly after he escaped from a state prison in Cumberland County Thursday morning, officials said.

Peter Rusch, of Seaside Heights, escaped from Bayside State Prison in Maurice River Township Thursday morning, according to the New Jersey Department of Corrections.

Rusch was captured shortly after the alert went out that he had escaped, said Chris Carden, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections.

Rusch is serving 17 years in connection with an armed robbery that took place under the boardwalk in Seaside Heights over the course of two days in 2009.

Rusch was being housed in a minimum-security facility on the property where Bayshore Prison sits. It is a transitional facility for prisoners who are preparing to be released on parole or after completing their sentences. Rusch had two years left before he was to be eligible for parole, according to Department of Corrections records.

He was convicted of first degree armed robbery, third degree possession of a knife for an unlawful purpose and 4th degree unlawful possession of a knife in 2011, and the sentence was upheld by an appellate court in 2014. Read more here: Sentence Upheld For Seaside Heights Under-The-Boardwalk Armed Robber

In that incident, Rusch lured the victim under the boardwalk, assaulted him and held a knife to his throat while taking $60 to $100. The victim finally escaped and ran home, authorities said. The victim ran into Rusch again the next day, at which time Rusch assaulted him a second time, authorities said. The two men didn't know each other.

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